Nickel-cobalt sulfide (NiCo2S4) is a prominent member of bimetallic transition metal sulfides. It is being widely used for a variety of applications such as electrode material, photocatalysis, and energy storage devices (like pseudo capacitors, supercapacitors, solar cells, and fuel cells) due to its better electronic conductivity, manageable morphology, and high capacitance. This work presents the one-step solventless synthesis of NiCo2S4 sheet-like nanostructures and then explores their metallic nature. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) analysis show the sheet-like grown morphology. Few nanorods are also seen. Except for a recent study (Xia et al. 2015) that shows metallic behavior, most of the reports show that NiCo2S4 is a semiconductor with claimed bandgap between 1.21 and 2.4 eV. In this study, we observe from UV-Vis and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) that NiCo2S4 has a specific band gap value between 2.02 and 2.17 eV. However, IV characteristics in the temperature range of 300–400 K show that NiCo2S4 is a metal with a positive temperature coefficient of resistance consistent with a recent report. Furthermore, we see the ohmic conduction mechanism. The Arrhenius plot is drawn, and the activation energy is calculated to be 3.45 meV. The metallic nature is attributed to the coupling of two metal species (nickel and cobalt), which accounts for its superior conductivity and performance in a variety of essential applications.

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Introduction: To investigate the relationship of xanthine oxidase activity with nephrotic syndrome disorder in children, and the optimization of the enzyme activity conditions in the disorder. Material and methods: Sera of children with nephrotic syndrome (NS) (60 samples) were obtained from Central Child Teaching Al Karama Hospital (CCTAH), from 2 nd Mar. 2013 to 28 th Feb. 2014. Sera of the patients were assayed for xanthine oxidase (XO) activity using colorimetric absorbance technique. The obtained results were compared with the enzyme activity of normal children (70 samples) as control. Results and conclusions: The results revealed a significant (P < 0.001) elevation in XO activity in serum of nephrotic syndrome (0.12 ± 0.06 IU/L) compared with that of normal subjects (0.05 ± 0.009 IU/L), showing an elevation of (70%) in XO activity (about 2/3) that of normal group. Factors influencing XO activities were also studied and showed that XO activity is a pH dependent. Significant elevation (P < 0.001) was found in uric acid level in sera of NS patients (497.52 ± 3.21 µmol/L) compared with that in normal group (298.12 ± 1.70 µmol/L). Elevation was found in urea level in sera of NS patient (10.69 ± 7.55 mmol/L) compared with that of normal group (4.57 ± 1.27 mmol/L). It was appeared, there is a role of XO activity in the pathogenesis of endothelial injury during glomerular lesion in NS and that was confirmed by comparing XO activity and other related conditions with the activity of normal volunteers.